Alida There were plenty of reasons for Alida to stay home, rather than go off to college, according to Kirin and Talia. They weren’t my parents, but they were the only family I’d had for a decade. Leaving them was scary, but at the same time, I was drawn to this place, far enough from the West Virginia hills to feel like a change, and close enough for me to always come home. Grady I wasn’t being elusive. I had no desire to be mysterious. I simply didn’t know a thing about my past. Not really. I’d tried to find out, but no one wanted to tell me anything...not the foster parents who raised me or the social worker who managed my case, or the police officer who turned me in. Little did I know, Christmas with her would change everything once and for all.